


Well I'm Something!

by Triskel_Samulet



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Derek Hale, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Banshee Lydia Martin, Bisexual Derek Hale, Bisexual Jackson Whittemore, Bisexual Stiles Stilinski, Claudia Stilinski Feels, First Kiss, Good Friend Lydia Martin, Hurt/Comfort, Kanima Jackson Whittemore, M/M, Minor Allison Argent/Scott McCall, Oblivious Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), Oblivious Stiles Stilinski, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining Derek, Protective Jackson Whittemore, Sexuality Crisis, Sharing a Bed, Stiles Stilinski's Name is Mieczysław, derek hale is bad with words, stiles is something
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:19:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 18,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26158678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Triskel_Samulet/pseuds/Triskel_Samulet
Summary: Canon divergent after season 1 final.Stiles doesn't give an answer in time and Peter bites him. Is he a wolf, like Scott, or is something weird happening like is happening with Lydia?
Relationships: Derek Hale/Jackson Whittemore, Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski/Jackson Whittemore, Stiles Stilinski/Jackson Whittemore
Comments: 108
Kudos: 515





	1. Introduction/Bitten

**Author's Note:**

> Hey yall, there will be a big ship for Stiles in here, but I'm waffling between two options. Let me know which ship you want to see and it might end up being the one!
> 
> This is my first fic and I told myself I would start with a one shot, but here I am with a multi chapter WIP :/

Stiles Stilinski had never been popular, but ever since his best friend was bitten by a werewolf, he was on the radar of the popular crowd. Somehow, Scott’s girlfriend, Alison, convinced his queen, Lydia Martin, to go to the homecoming dance with him. Granted, it was to make sure alpha douche Peter Hale didn’t use Lydia to get to their rag-tag group, but nonetheless, Stiles was at the dance with girl of his dreams Lydia Martin. She even danced with him, too!

Obviously things were going too well for him. Now Lydia was bleeding out from a werewolf bite gone wrong on the lacrosse field and Peter Hale was breathing down his neck to track down Scott.

“I like you, Stiles, so I’m going to offer you something.” Now Stiles was confused. This guy kidnapped him from school, potentially killed his date, destroyed the keys to his jeep, and now wants to give him something?

“Do you want the bite?” Peter asked.

“What?” Stiles responded, why on earth would Peter want Stiles in his pack?

“Do you want the bite?” Peter repeated, “If it doesn’t kill you, and it could, you will become like us.”

“Like you.”

“Yes, a werewolf. Would you like me to draw you a picture?” Peter rolled his eyes, “That first night I bit Scott because I needed a new pack. Could have easily been you. You’d be every bit as powerful as him. No more standing by his side, watching him become stronger…”

Stiles started to zone out, thinking of the possibility, what it would be like. He didn’t notice Peter as he drew closer; barely registered when Peter grabbed his wrist. He had a brief thought of “no” but before he could say it, Peter bit down.

“I don’t want to be like you.” Stiles choked out, cradling his bleeding wrist.

Peter gave him an odd look. “Do you know what I heard just now? Your heartbeat beating faster over the words ‘I’ ‘don’t’ ‘want.’ You may believe that you are telling the truth but you are lying to yourself. Anyway, too late now. Goodbye, Stiles.”

With that, Peter got in his car, or well, the dead nurse’s car, and drove off.

“Some alpha you are,” Stiles mumbled, “Leaving your brand new beta behind.”

Later that night sees Stiles wrist healed as he and Jackson Whitmore of all people, show up to throw Molotov cocktails at Peter right before Derek takes the killing blow.

His life can get back to normal, now, right? The only person who knew he was bitten is dead and he knows control because he single handedly taught Scott how to control his wolf, so now he can just, fly under the radar. The big bads (yes there were two, Kate totally counts) are gone and his luck isn’t that bad for there to be another one in the near future. 

So he doesn’t have to deal with werewolfness now. It’s not like Derek can smell the werewolf on him and make him joint his pack. Wait a second, Stiles saw Derek take a deep breath and his eyes turned red again as he looked directly at Stiles. So, scratch that. Werewolves can sniff out other werewolves.

“He bit you.” Derek stated. The Argents, Scott and Jackson all turned to look at Stiles.

“Um… yeah.” Great, that’s all he could come up with to say. What happened to all his annoying, distracting babbling? Where is his knowledge on the history of male circumcision? Come on, anything to distract from the fact that he is no longer human.

“You aren’t a wolf.” Derek stated, again with no inflection. Come on, can someone teach him how to speak properly?

“Wait, what?” Now Stiles shocked expression matched the others in the group.

“You aren’t a wolf.” And with that, Derek stalked off into the preserve.

“Um… Thanks for that, I guess?”


	2. Not a Wolf

Everything after that was rather anticlimactic. Everyone went to their own homes. There wasn’t even really a concerned or sympathetic look from Scott about the whole bitten-but-not-a-wolf-but-not-dead thing. Hopefully Lydia ends up with the same luck that he did, but it doesn’t seem that way. Jackson texted that Lydia is safe at the hospital and, while she’s not dead, she’s in a coma-like state. And wasn’t that weird, Jackson texting him.

Stiles pushed that from his mind. All his friends (and friend adjacent people) were safe. Next step is to figure out whatever the hell he was now. He sat down at his desk and opened his laptop and started searching “werewolf bites gone wrong.” Hopefully he’ll find answers for both himself and Lydia.

The next morning finds him with key indents on the side of his face and drool on his keyboard and he was nowhere closer to figuring out what he was. Lydia, however, is most likely a banshee. That’s pretty cool. Apparently, a werewolf bite jumpstarts a banshee’s powers and, if the banshee is inexperienced, if there is a lot of death on the day of the awakening, she will fall into a short-term coma. Eventually Lydia will be fine, but the supernatural world is just too overwhelming at the moment.

But what was Stiles? There was a lot of information on the bite causing death and a little on the banshee thing. There was also this thing called the kanama, but if that’s what he was, the case, Stiles would be leaking black goo all over the place. 

There were no other reliable sources about what was happening to him, so he decided to go to the person who declared him “not-a-wolf” in the first place: Derek Hale, the new resident Alpha. Stiles first looked for him in the burned down Hale house, but any evidence of his previous squatting was gone.

Stiles rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone, calling Derek.

“What.” Came the curt response after some ringing.

“You know, you really should work on inflection, dude.”

“Don’t call me dude.” Derek growled. Man, werewolves can actually growl. Stiles briefly wondered if he could growl, now, too, but then he remembered he wasn’t a wolf and that’s why he was calling in the first place.

“We need to talk.”

“Okay, so talk.” Man, Derek was either a dick or completely oblivious to social norms… maybe both.

“I meant in person. We need to talk in person.”  
“Why.” Stiles huffed. Again with no inflection.

“That’s why. Without seeing your eyebrows I get to tone from you. I need tone in order to understand you.”

Derek let out another growl, “Fine, I’ll text you my address.”

He hung up and Stiles smiled to himself, feeling like he won something.

The feeling of winning faded as he pulled Roscoe up in front of an abandoned train depot. Seriously, hasn’t this guy heard of actual homes? 

Derek was waiting for him outside the entrance with his arms crossed over his chest. As soon as Stiles stepped out of the car, he growled, “What.”

“Again with the growling!” Stiles exclaimed, “Is this a kind of ‘me wolf, you not wolf’ thing? Because if so I demand justice for this speciesist attitude!”

“Stiles. Shut. Up.” The glare was enough punctuation for Stiles to get the message.

“What am I?” He asked, quietly.

“You’re Stiles.” Derek said, just as quietly, recognizing the sensitivity of the moment.

“But I’ve been bitten. Either you become something or you die.” Stiles insisted, “You said I’m not a wolf, but I’m not a banshee or a kanima either. Those are the only other two options I found and it doesn’t match up. So again, O Mighty Alpha, what am I?”

“I’ve never smelled it before,” Derek responded, honestly, “But I know you aren’t a wolf.”

Stiles nodded and tried to fight the dejected feelings that were creeping up.

“Yeah, well, thanks for nothing, sourwolf.” He turned his back to Derek and walked back to his jeep. Back to the drawing board.


	3. Not a Kanama

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three updates in one day! This is not going to be the norm. I see I've already gotten some kudos and bookmarks, thank you guys so much!
> 
> Like I said earlier, I do intend for there to be a ship for Stiles in this story, but am undecided with which one. I think it's going one way, but then the characters do something else, and then it changes again! Let me know what ship you want to see!

After driving far enough away so he knew Derek wouldn’t hear him, he pulled Roscoe over and took out his phone. His first call was to Scott.

“Come on, come on. Pick up, pick up.”

“You have reached the voice mail box of…” Stiles hung up the phone and looked at the time. Scott was already at work and wouldn’t be available until after five. Should he go to the clinic in person? If he did that then not only would he have bro support, but maybe Deaton would have some answers as to what he was, or possibly books that Stiles could research it himself instead of relying on Mr. Vague. 

As he reached to turn the key, his phone rang. It was Jackson.

“Why are you calling me?” That came out harsher than he intended, but it was weird. Jackson always treated him like a pariah and now is texting and calling him? “Did something happen to Lydia?” Their common love for her was the reason for the texting in the first place. What if the banshee-induced coma became too much to handle and she died?

“What? No, Lydia is fine. Still in a coma, though.” That had Stiles breathing a sigh of relief. “I’m calling because of me. Derek gave me the bite last night. I’m not dead, but I just finished coughing up all this black shit. I don’t think it worked.”

“Shit,” Stiles muttered under his breath, “Okay, Jackson stay where you are, also where are you? I’m going to swing by my place and pick up my research. If you feel the urge to murder anyone while before I get there, please fight that urge.”

“Why would I want to…” Stiles hung up before Jackson could finish that sentence. He might not be a kanama, but Jackson sure was. How was it that their little rag tag pack could have this many bad bites within a day? Seriously less that 24 hours and there were already three weird bites.

He put his phone away and started towards his house as fast as he could without being pulled over by one of his dad’s deputies. As soon as he was home he rushed upstairs and printed everything he had on kanamas, which wasn’t much, and about half of it was in archaic Latin and the other half was in Spanish. The Spanish he could translate, but the Latin was a whole other story. Did he even know anyone who could read archaic Latin? Probably not but he was printing it anyway because he knew it had something to do with this whole kanima mess.

When the research was finally printed off he rushed back to his car and to Jackson’s house. While he knew a kanama was a murderous lizard, he didn’t know much of anything about the initial transformation other that the black goo of bite rejection.

When he knocked on the Whitmore’s door there was no answer, but the door was unlocked, so he let himself in.

“Jackson?” Stiles voice echoed in the seemingly empty house.

He heard a crash from upstairs and made his way toward the sound and found one of the bedroom doors slightly ajar. Stiles slowly opened to door and made his way into the room. He looked around and saw nothing out of the ordinary. He was about to leave when suddenly a giant lizard was pouncing on him from the other side of the bed.

Jackson was pinning Stiles to the floor and his creepy lizard face was too close for comfort. Wow kanama teeth are way sharper than werewolf fangs. And this transformation is way more than a werewolf beta shift. Jackson had scales everywhere… or everywhere he could see… did these scales extend all the way down… nope, stopping that train of thought. Focus. Help Jackson.

“Hey, Jackson, what’s up?” Stiles tried. Maybe talking to his human side would bring it to the forefront again? He didn’t know. He was flying blind, here.

The kanama gave him and odd look and got off Stiles, but was still blocking the door.

“Hey, buddy. Are you going to come back to yourself, now?” Stiles mentally cursed himself. Jackson is going to be so mad at him for calling him “buddy.”

The kanama reached one arm up with his palm facing Stiles. He was confused by this, but has seen Tarzan enough times to wonder is this was a “two worlds, one family” moment and he reached out, too, until their palms were touching. Then the kanama slowly changed back to Jackson.

“Stilinski, when did you get here?” He asked.

“Wait, so you don’t remember what happened when you were a lizard?”

“When I was a what?”

Stiles then launched into a long-winded explanation of everything he knew about the kanama. He did not, however, have an explanation as to what the whole hand thing was about.

“So, do you feel murdery?” Stiles asked.

Jackson glared at him, “No.”

“Okay, well if you do, I’ll help you out. You have my number.”

Stiles got up and started to leave.

“Hey Stilinski,” Stiles paused on his way down the stairs and turned toward Jackson, “Thanks”

Stiles gave him a smile that turned into a smirk once he turned away. His life was probably going to stay interesting after this new development, and he didn’t really seem to mind.


	4. Not a Druid

Upon leaving Jackson’s house, Stiles had a lot of questions not only about himself, but Jackson, too. If kanimas are supposedly killing machines, why didn’t Jackson kill him? Yeah, he pounced on Stiles at first, but he was probably scared. After that he seemed almost timid and gentle. Well, if he didn’t know it was Jackson he would have used those words. And what the hell was up with the hand thing?

He pulled up to the vet clinic and walked in through the front door, since it was normal business hours. Scott was manning the front desk.

“Scotty, my man! Good to see you.”

His friend gave him his signature dopey smile, “Good to see you, too. Hey, what are you doing here? You didn’t run over a dog again, did you?”

“What? No.” Stiles gave Scott a confused look. Did he completely forget last night, “I need to ask Deaton a few questions about what the bite turned me in to and I need more information on kanimas because Jackson is one now and we had a weird Tarzan moment and I don’t know if that’s a kanima thing or if it’s a whatever I am thing…”

“Okay, okay. I don’t know anything about any of that, but Deaton’s in the back, feel free to head back there. My shift is almost over and I have a date with Alison, so I can’t stay with you.”

Stiles deflated a little at that. Here he was turning into something and all Scott wanted to do was hang out with his girlfriend who tried to kill him and their friends. Granted that was under false pretenses, but Stiles was there for Scott during his change, why can’t Scott do the same for him? On the other hand, Stiles didn’t have a significant other at the time, so it’s not necessarily comparable.

“Yeah, okay. Talk later, then?” Stiles asked.

“Yeah for sure!” Scott said with a big smile. Good old Scott, his joy was contagious.

Stiles moved toward the gate and then remembered it was mountain ash. Scott for sure couldn’t open it. He might as well try. He reached forward and… opened the gate with no issue. Derek was right, not a werewolf.

He gave Scott a brief bro hug before moving to the back to speak with Deaton.

“Hey, Doc, I have a problem.”

“Hello, Stiles. Yes, Derek informed me about your bite and the mystery surrounding what you are, now.” Deaton said, not even looking up from where he was neutering a poor little dog.

“Wait, you actually talk to Derek? Derek talks to you?” This baffled Stiles. Getting Derek to talk was like pulling teeth, but he somehow managed to pick up the phone, call Deaton, and tell him about this latest craziness. This was stranger to Stiles than not knowing what species he was.

“Well, in his own way. You know Derek.” The doctor replied and, yeah, that made way more sense than what Stiles was coming up with in his head. Most things made more sense in real life than in Stiles head. “You had questions?” Deaton asked after a long silence of Stiles stuck in his head.

“Oh, yeah.” Stiles said, “The first question is actually about Jackson. See, his bite turned him into a kanima and because I was researching weird bite results I had some information and when I went to help him we had a weird Tarzan moment and then he turned back to normal and he wasn’t murdery at all, which is super contrary to my research on them…”

“I’m going to stop you right there.” Deaton finally looked away from the dog, “I don’t know much about kanimas, but I do know they usually have a partner in crime of some sort. I think Jackson’s kanima side picked you.”

“Well that was very un-Jackson-like of him.”

Deaton let one of his rare smiles come out, “Regardless, he is going to need you to help him through this.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just call me the supernatural whisperer.” Stiles rolled his eyes. First Scott, now Jackson. Maybe this is why he didn’t change; he’s too busy dealing with everyone else’s supernatural drama that he can’t have any of his own.

“So, on to your second question, I’m presuming.” Damn, Stiles got lost in his head again.

“Yes! Yes, okay. So, I know I’m not a kanima, since I’m Jackson’s partner in crime or whatever. I also didn’t ooze black gunk, so yeah, definitely not a kanima. I know I’m not a banshee because I would have ended up in a coma, like Lydia. But I also know I’m not a wolf, like Derek said, because I was able to open the mountain ash gate at the front desk. So, yeah, that’s what I know about what I’m not.”

“That seems like a reasonable assessment so far.” Deaton replied, and then left to put the dog back in his cage.

“That’s it? ‘That’s a reasonable assessment?’ That’s all you’ve got for me?” Damn, he knew this guy was vague and unhelpful, but this is just worse than normal.

“Yes, your research skill are very good and moving the gate rules out werewolf, werefox, werejaguar, and werecoyote.” Deaton turned towards Stiles, “The only help I can offer you is a magical litmus test, of sorts. But I only have the one for druidic magic. I can tell you, before we start that I have never heard of a druid reacting this way to a bite. We are born with our magic and it is not activated by a bite like a banshee can be. If you are a druid, you would be unique in that way.”

“I think that is the most straight forward thing to have come out of your mouth.” Stiles said, “Yeah, let’s do this.”

Deaton took Stiles into his office and instructed him to sit down as he looked through his bookshelves for something. He came back with a very old looking book.

“Read this.” Deaton said.

“Um, okay.” Stiles leaned toward the desk and carefully opened the book. He tried to read it, really he did. But it seemed to be written in some code and looking at it made his head hurt.

“Well, that answers that. Not a druid.” Deaton snapped the book shut and put it back on the shelf.

“What was that?”

“A druidic spell book written in the language of the druid. The ability to read it is the most basic, innate skill of a druid.”

“Well thanks, Doc. I am frustratingly no closer to figuring out what I am.”

“Good luck on your quest, Stiles.”

Stiles rolled his eyes and got up to leave when Scott showed up in the door way.

“You might want to hang here for a bit.” He said.

“Why?” Stiles asked.

“There’s a big storm outside that came out of nowhere. Had to cancel my date with Alison.”

Wow, a storm big enough to keep Scott and Alison apart. He was definitely going to wait it out. But it was strange that it came out of nowhere. Stiles hoped this wasn’t an omen for a new big bad in town.


	5. Not a Banshee

Waiting out the storm actually ended up being pretty fun. He got to have some one-on-one bro time with Scott and that hadn’t really happened since Scott was bit. It would have been better if they had a video game that he could beat Scott at, but just chilling in the back of the clinic was cool too. That was, until Scott’s phone rang and he got a big dopey smile on his face. The smile that just screamed “Alison.” He left the room to take the call privately, which Stiles was fine with because he did not want to hear them being lovey-dovey and he did not want to deal with a Scott who missed the chance to talk to his love.

Stiles was debating whether or not he should check and see if the storm passed when his phone rang, the screen lighting up with Jackson’s name.

“Jackson, what’s up man?”

“Lydia’s missing.”

Before he had a chance to respond, Scott came back in the room and yelled, “The hunters are going after Lydia!”

“Okay, Jackson, meet us at the hospital. I’ll call Derek.”

After a long night of wondering why the hunters wanted Lydia, trying to deter them, and trying to find her, all while avoiding the worst of the storm that was still raging on, she was finally found by the police wondering naked by the preserve with no memory of what happened since she left the hospital. Thankfully, after she was found the storm subsided.

They all decided it would be best if Lydia heard about the supernatural world from Jackson and Alison, but since there were large gaps in their knowledge, Stiles was there for his information on banshees and Derek was there for any other questions she could have.

“I’m a banshee.” Lydia said, disbelievingly.

They all nodded.

She hummed and gave them each an assessing look, “So I’m not crazy.”

They all shook their heads.

“Good. I want all the information you have on banshees printed out for me by morning and point me toward any resources you don’t have. Also, if any of you have any information as to what I was doing earlier tonight I need that information as well. Now, what are all of you?” Lydia gave them a pointed look that left no room to defy her wishes. They each gave their answer, but when they got to Stiles, Lydia scoffed.

“What do you mean you don’t know?” She said, rolling her eyes, “You are the second smartest person in Beacon Hills. How do you not know what you turned into? You figured out what I am and what Jackson is in one day.”

“Hey, I’ve tried, but all the obvious and well documented answers have been ruled out.” She gave him a scrutinizing look, making Stiles feel self-conscious. 

Just then it started to hail outside. Lydia eyed the storm with a calculating look.

“Well, I think you’ve told me all you can for now.” She said, “Stiles, I expect that file of your research first thing in the morning.”

Stiles rolled his eyes, but nodded. This was his place in the pack, no matter what he was: the designated researcher and gopher for everyone else. Who cared that he had his own issues to deal with.

The guys said their goodbyes and left Lydia and Alison to their girls night, which was really just a cover so Alison could make sure her family didn’t try to get to Lydia again.

When they got outside, they realized that both the porsche and the camaro were heavily hit by the hail.

“I guess I’m giving both of you a ride home.” Stiles said as he walked toward the jeep. His back was turned, so he didn’t see the little fight Derek and Jackson had over who sat in front. Derek won after flashing his alpha eyes.

“Alright, Jackson, your house is closer so I’ll drop you off first. Derek, are you still living in the abandoned train depot?”

Derek blushed a little, but his scowl deepened as he let out a, “Yes.”

Stiles smiled at that while Jackson smirked from the back.

Despite the hail, it only took about three minutes to drive to Jackson’s house. They said their goodbyes and Jackson reluctantly left the jeep and went inside. From there it was about fifteen minutes to the train depot and the hail was cleared up by the time they arrived. 

“It’s weird, two freak storms within 24 hours of each other.” Stiles said, breaking the silence.

Derek grunted in response, but made no move to get out of the jeep.

“What’s going on in that head of yours, Sourwolf?” Stiles asked.

Derek wouldn’t look at him, just kept facing straight ahead. After a long silence, he said, “I wanted you to be a wolf.”

Stiles gave him a confused look, then motioned for him to continue when it seemed that was all he was going to say.

“I wanted you to be a wolf so you would have the instincts.” Stiles could tell that Derek was trying to say something important, but like always, he didn’t know how to use his words right.

“Hey, Derek, look at me.” Derek turned towards him, “Why did you want me to have werewolf instincts?”

“To see if… well if you would…” Stiles nodded to show he was listening and managed to keep his mouth shut. This was important to Derek, so he would respect the moment no matter how much he wanted to yell at the doofus to just say it!

“I wanted to know if your instincts would be telling you the same thing mine are telling me.” He finally said, as his eyes blazed red. This left Stiles even more confused.

“What are your instincts telling you?” He whispered, knowing Derek could still hear him.

The next thing he knew, Derek’s lips were on his. There was another man kissing him. There was a MAN kissing Stiles. Derek Hale was kissing Stiles Stilinski.

Stiles didn’t move. He didn’t push Derek away, but he didn’t kiss back either. His mind was moving too fast trying to process everything. He thought Derek barely tolerated him and now he was kissing Stiles.

Derek finally moved away. “I’m sorry, for just kissing you like that… I’ll just…” And then he stumbled out of the jeep. Alpha werewolf Derek Hale was literally stumbling in his haste to get away from Stiles after he all but confessed his love. This night could not get any weirder.


	6. Not a Siren

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While I am adding two relationship tags, I still have not decided on the endgame relationship. If you have an opinion, let me know in the comments.

The drive home was filled with thoughts of Derek. Why did Derek kiss him? Why were Derek’s instincts telling him to kiss Stiles? What things would Stiles’ instincts be telling him if he were a wolf? Was Stiles even gay, or bi? Sure, he constantly asked Danny if he was attractive to gay guys, but that was more curiosity than wanting to date a guy, right?

But it’s also not like he’d never snuck a peak in the locker room. He knew he shouldn’t, but he was curious! Wait, wasn’t there a sexuality called bi-curious? He should look that up when he gets home. Great, another thing he had to research. The Hale family was really giving in that way: giving him more questions than answers.

But he did have to admit, when he had Derek strip for Danny, he did enjoy it just as much as the other boy, and his curious looks always lingered on Jackson’s abs or muscular back. Huh, maybe he was bi.

When he got home he made sure all the doors and windows were locked, since his dad was still at work, probably drowning in paperwork because of Lydia’s disappearance and reappearance. Finally he made his way up to his room to print out the banshee research for Lydia. When he flipped on the light in his room, he was met with the sight of Jackson sitting outside his window with his back to the window. He walked over and opened the window.

“What are you doing here, Jackson?” He asked.

Jackson turned toward Stiles, “It’s hard to explain.”

Stiles scoffed, “After everything we’ve been through these past two months, I think I can handle whatever it is.”

And wasn’t that the truth. Just over two months ago he was a normal nerd trying to get the attention of the smartest, most popular girl who happened to be dating the guy now sitting outside his window. There were no supernatural creature and certainly no abnormally hot men were trying to get with Stiles. That was definitely new.

“I feel the need to…” Jackson paused, trying to find the right word, “protect you.”

“Jackson, you are usually the person I need protection from. Are you okay, dude?”

Jackson rolled his eyes and looked to the sky as if asking the universe why he had to deal with Stiles, which, to be fair, Stiles had seen that look on even his father’s face, so he understood.

“I’m fine, Stilinski.” Jackson responded, “ I just… Since being bitten I have new instincts and they are screaming at me that you need to be protected at all costs.”

“Okay, just to be clear, you aren’t feeling any murdery instincts? Like, do you feel the urge to kill me?”

“You’re an idiot.” There’s the Jackson Stiles knows and hates, “Weren’t you listening? I want to kill anyone who hurts you.”

Stiles nodded slowly while processing what Jackson was saying.

“So you aren’t going to be leaving any time soon, are you?”

“No.” Jackson gave him a scowl that could rival Derek’s. Actually, now that he thought about it, there were some facial similarities between Jackson and the two Hales he’s met… Not relevant.

“Okay.” Stiles went to the hall closet and came back with a blanket and pillow.

“What are you doing, Stilinski?”

“I figured you’d be more comfortable inside.” Stiles said, “You can either have the floor or the desk chair. There is no way I’m giving up my bed because your kanima instincts won’t let you leave me alone.”

As Jackson climbed inside, Stiles grabbed a fresh pair of boxers and a t-shirt and went to take a shower. This was the first time he’d been alone all day. Now, Stiles would consider himself an energetic extravert, but even he had limits. And now Jackson was sleeping in his room.

He exited the shower, got dressed, and went back to his room to find Jackson asleep in his bed.

“Jerk.” He muttered as he got under the covers. He fell asleep faster and slept more peacefully than he had since before his mom died.

The next morning Stiles woke up to a comfortable weight on his back. In his half asleep state he snuggled more into the warmth before he realized that the warmth and the weight were coming from another person and that person was Jackson Whitmore. This caused him to flail and fall off the bed.

“Way to go, Stilinski, you managed to ruin sleep.” Jackson muttered.

“I have to get my research to Lydia.” Stiles tried to change the topic and deflect from whatever the hell happened last night.

He went to his computer and started printing all the articles and notes he forgot last night because of the whole Jackson thing. His mind was going a mile a minute, though. First, Derek has an instinctual need to kiss him, and then Jackson’s instincts tell him to get into Stiles’ bed. What the hell was going on with these guys? What if Stiles turned into some sex demon or a temptress… tempter… whatever? What if what was happening to Jackson and Derek has to do with whatever unknown supernatural mojo Stiles had?

“Hey, calm down. I can hear you thinking from here, and I don’t think you’re going anywhere any time soon.” While Stiles had been distracted, Jackson moved towards the window and was looking out to the backyard that bordered the preserve.

“Wait, you can here me think? Is that connected with the whole “being the kanima’s partner in crime thing? I need more information on that.”

“What? No. Stop being an idiot, Stilinski. You’re just easy to read when you’re freaking out about something.”

“Oh, yeah, right.” Stiles started trying to calm himself down, “What was that about not going to Lydia’s?”

“Well, after you sat at your desk chair, I noticed the wind really started to pick up. Uprooted some trees too. But it’s practically gone now.”

Stiles flailed out of his chair and to the window. “A third weird weather phenomenon? This has to be supernatural. I’ll add it to my research list after I get this to Lydia.”

He grabbed a manila envelope and stuffed the papers in it before running out of the room to his jeep. He didn’t realize he was still in his boxers until he was halfway to Lydia’s house. Well, too late now. There is no way he was going back to a room that Jackson might still be in after running out of there so fast. Nope, the only way to maintain his dignity was to walk up to Lydia’s door in nothing but his boxers and a thread bare t-shirt and hope for the best.

When he got there Lydia took one look at him and pulled him into her house demanding he give her the answers as to why he showed up looking like that. He stumbled over the story of Derek and Jackson’s newfound instincts and that he worried about accidentally duping them with supernatural mojo. He also confessed his recent questioning of his sexuality. Man, Lydia Martin was so good at getting information out of people.

When he was done, Lydia smirked and tossed her hair.

“First of all, obviously you’re bi. Your obsession with me was just as much about getting Jackson’s attention as it was mine. If we had invited you into a threesome you would have ended up in the middle because you wouldn’t be able to pick between us. Also, you’d have to be blind not to have a thing for Derek.” And she was right on both counts. Sexuality crisis averted.

“Now, about your supernatural origins, if you were a sex demon of some sort my first instinct would be siren with your love for your own voice. However, I am not under your spell and I know I would be the first person under your spell since you are so obsessed with me. So, no siren and no sex demon. These guys are just into you.”

“Thank you, Lydia! You are so right!” Stiles paused, “Wait, why are you so calm about Jackson sleeping in my bed last night?”

Lydia waved him off, “Our relationship was more about high school politics than anything else. I think that, while he plays for both teams, that we more have the same target in mind.”

She gave him a knowing wink and it made Stiles wonder if the two of them had had threesomes in the past. That’s a wild thought.

“Now go home and deal with your boy problems.”

She slammed the door after pushing him out. Her next-door neighbor was out watering the grass and gave him a judgmental look. No matter what Lydia said, his boy troubles were the least of his worries right now.


	7. Not a Mutant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So after two days of three updates a day, it's now getting to a realistic time frame.
> 
> A warning for this chapter is mentions of Kate Argent. Nothing too detailed, but it's still there.

Thankfully when he got home, Jackson had already left and his dad was at work. He went back to his room, put on a pair of sweats and changed his shirt before he got started on researching. Stiles decided that trying to figure out what he was was a dead end and Lydia helped him through his sexuality crisis, so the only thing left was to try and figure out what was causing the weird weather.

Looking outside, Stiles could tell there was nothing unusual happening. Clear skies and a shining sun, so whatever it was wasn’t active right now.

He opened his laptop and started googling weather manipulation. The first thing that popped up was Storm from X-Men. That was not a reliable source, so he changed tactics and decided to go to Beacon Hills’ weather service website and found maps for all the storms and their origin points.

The massive thunderstorm started at the vet clinic and moved out from there to cover the whole town. The hailstorm started near Lydia’s house and did pretty much the same thing. The massive wind started near his house, but didn’t really gain enough traction to move on.

Once is an incident, twice is a coincidence, but three times was a pattern. Stiles was a mutant who could control the weather!

“You are not a mutant, Stiles.” Was the first thing out of Derek’s mouth after he called the pack to his house. 

“Stiles, focus. Why do you think you’re a mutant?” God bless Scott for knowing how to get out of his head.

“Look at the weather patters for the freak storms. They all originate where I was at the time.” Stiles explained, “Three is a pattern; the storms are connected to me somehow. The fact that the bite had seemingly no effect on me means I was already a dormant something, like Lydia. So, if I had the mutant gene or something, the bite could have activated it. I’m totally Storm, now!”

Everyone gave him dubious looks.

“What if the person controlling the storms is coming after you?” Derek suggested.

“I’ll kill them.” Jackson stated as the kanima shift started coming over him.

“Jackson! No killing until we know what’s going on!” Stiles shouted. Immediately the kanima shift receded, leaving an embarrassed looking Jackson in its place.

“Okay,” Derek said, getting into alpha mode, “We need more information on the storms, if they are coming from or for Stiles. We also need to know what the hunters are up to. Any updates, Alison?”

“My grandpa is in town.” Alison said, “From what my dad says, that’s bad news for the pack. Kate was his golden girl so he probably knew about the fire. He’s placed himself and my mother in the school to keep an eye on all of us. I think the reason he was after Lydia was because she was bit and didn’t die. Kind of a mercy killing in his twisted mind: get to her before the wolf could fully set in, or something.”

They all grimaced. Having a new hunter in town was never good news, but Gerard seemed almost worse than Kate. They would have to keep a close eye on him and be careful at school and around Alison. 

“I’ll take over researching the weird weather.” Lydia stated out of the blue.

“What? Researching is my job!” Stiles exclaimed. Until he knew what he was and got a handle on whatever, research was the only thing he brought to the pack. He felt useless without it.

“Stiles, you thought mutants were real.” She gave him a look that left no room for questions, “I will research the weather and I will be able to be objective about it. Your judgment is clouded.”

“Ugh, fine. Be my guest.”

Lydia gave a predatory smile. “Great. Have fun tonight!”

Before Stiles could question what she meant, Lydia, Alison, and Scott all left, leaving Jackson and Derek in his living room. Neither of them looked like they were going anywhere.

“Alright, well this was fun.” Stiles said, “Thanks for listening to be outrageous theories about what I am. You both probably have stuff to do and I should get ready for school starting again tomorrow, so… bye!”

Stiles gave an awkward smile before going upstairs, expecting to hear the sound of the front door opening and closing as he left, but that’s not what he heard. Instead, he heard heavy footfalls on the stairs behind him. When he got to his room he threw himself on his bed.

“Go away.” He mumbled, knowing they would hear him.

“No.” Derek stated.

Stiles turned onto his back to glare at them. “Why not?”

“There could be a maniac out there hunting you down. I’m not leaving you alone.” Jackson said.

Stiles rolled his eyes, “So I need an alpha werewolf and a kanima watching me until the end of time?”

“No.” They both said.

“Then why are you both here?”

Somehow Derek and Jackson managed to simultaneously look embarrassed and glare daggers at each other.

“Oh my gosh you two are the worst.” Stiles grabbed a pillow and pulled it over his face to try and hide his laughter from the two supernatural beings. “You both want to protect me but you don’t trust each other!” He was all out laughing now, pillow shield forgotten.

When he finally started calming down and wiped the tears from his eyes he noticed small smirks on Derek and Jackson’s faces. He was glad that they also were able to see the humor in this situation.

Just then, Derek’s face got super serious again.

“Jackson, could you give us a minute?” Derek asked.

“No.”

Stiles could tell that whatever Derek had to say was important, so he got up and walked over to Jackson and put his hand on his shoulder.

“Why don’t you keep watch outside my window for a bit. See if you can see anything lurking out there?” Stiles asked.

He could tell Jackson wasn’t happy with it, but he went to the window and climbed outside. Stiles closed the window after him.

“From what I can tell, kanima hearing isn’t as good as werewolf hearing, so whatever you have to say, you can say it now.” Stiles said, turning to face Derek.

Derek nodded, looking uncomfortable. Stiles decided to give him time to say whatever he needed to say. Normally he hates silence and has this need to fill it, but he knew Derek needed the silence to prepare what he needed to say and to build up the courage to vocalize his thoughts.

“I think Jackson likes you.” Is what he finally said. Stiles looked out the window at where Jackson was sitting.

“I think you’re right.” Stiles responded, “But that’s not what you wanted to say.”

“Have you…” Derek started, but stopped himself, “Have you thought about that night, when you dropped me off?”

“You mean last night?” Stiles asked while raising an eyebrow at Derek, “Haven’t really gotten the chance with everything else that’s been going on.”

Derek nodded, “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?”

“You’re sixteen and I’m twenty-four. I kissed you without your consent. I’m sorry.”

Stiles was confused. Why was Derek feeling guilty for kissing him? Sure there was an age difference, but it’s not like Derek took advantage of him. Oh! A light bulb went off in Stiles’ head. He didn’t want to be like Kate! He didn’t want to do what had been done to her.

“Derek, look at me.” Derek looked up from where his eyes had been focused on the floor, “You aren’t her. You aren’t her, Derek.” Stiles pulled him into a tight hug.

“You should be with someone your own age.” Derek said, “With someone who can’t do that to you.”

“Hey, I know you aren’t capable of doing that.” Stiles said, he was more serious than he had been in a long time, “And I deserve to pick the person I think is the right fit for me.”

Stiles heart was breaking for Derek in that moment. For the first time it really hit him how much the older man had gone through. No one can go through that kind of trauma unscathed. 

“Stiles, the wind.”

Stiles slowly let go of Derek and turned toward the window just in time to see a large gust of wind knock Jackson off the roof.


	8. Kanima Master

Derek and Stiles ran down the stairs and out the back door trying to get to Jackson. Once they got outside the wind was fighting them off. Stiles saw Jackson in the middle of his backyard in full kanima shift clawing at the wind as if that would somehow stop it.

“Jackson!” He yelled, but his voice was lost in the wind.

As he got more anxious, the wind seemed to get stronger, and the stronger the wind got, the more anxious he became. It was a vicious cycle that kept Stiles and Derek down. Eventually, they both realized the easiest way to move in all this wind was to army crawl their way across the lawn to Jackson. When they finally reached him, Jackson lashed out and scratched Derek. At first, Stiles thought that was fine. It was a small scratch and Derek was a werewolf, he’d heal. However, Derek went limp.

“Derek! What’s happening?” Stiles yelled.

“Can’t move!” Derek responded.

Stiles saw the wind start to move Derek’s limp form away. He reached out and grabbed on to Derek, hoping to ground him. He used his other hand to reach out to Jackson. Jackson looked at the hand with a confused look on his face. He looked from the hand, down Stiles’ arm, to his face and then, with a look of recognition, started reaching forward. He reached passed Stile’s outstretched hand to caress Stiles’ face. Stiles tried to stay steady and not flinch as the clawed hand than managed to paralyze Derek got closer to his face. The kanima was surprisingly gentle and took care not to scratch Stiles with his claws. Once Jackson touched Stiles, the kanima started receding.

Stiles was able to breathe his first calm breath seeing Jackson come back to himself. Slowly, the winds started to die down and Stiles and Jackson were able to carry Derek inside with them. 

“Derek, are you okay?” Stiles asked once they laid him down on the living room couch. He was holding onto one of Derek’s paralyzed hands.

“I will be.” He growled out. He also heard a wet, squelching sound and looked down to see Derek clawing himself with his other hand.

“What are you doing?” Stiles demanded.

“I’m speeding up the healing process.” Derek replied and clenched his jaw. Whether that was out of pain or annoyance was anyone’s guess.

“I’m sorry.” They heard Jackson say from the opposite corner of the room. Stiles had been so focused on Derek; he hadn’t noticed the other boy retreat there.

Jackson looked so small and ashamed of himself. Stiles decided he didn’t like that look on him.

“It wasn’t your fault, Jackson.” Stiles said.

“Yes it was! I lost control of myself when I fell off the roof! I scratched Derek and paralyzed him! It’s my fault!” He was crying now. Stiles had never seen him cry before. He doubted Jackson even showed Lydia this side of him before.

“It was not your fault.” Stiles got up and moved across the room. He placed one hand on either side of Jackson’s face, “It was not your fault. What do you remember about being the kanima?”

“I don’t know. I remember feelings of fear and anger and confusion.”

“Do you remember anything more in depth? Any actions?”

Jackson shook his head and chocked out, “No.”

“Jackson you are not the kanima and the kanima isn’t you. It’s like a split personality. You dissociate when you are the kanima. You did not do this to Derek, the kanima did. Even if it was you, you didn’t know what your claws could do, none of us did. Derek doesn’t blame you for what happened. Right Derek?” 

Stiles turned to look at Derek. He didn’t quite have full range of motion, but it was better than before. He gave Stiles a look that said Do I really have to do this and Stiles’ look said You better tell him you don’t blame him, Sourwolf.

“No, I don’t blame you for what happened. And look, I can already move my hand.” And he flipped Stiles off. Well that was nice.

“See? You’re okay, Jackson.” And with that, Jackson enveloped Stiles in a big hug.

“How about in the morning, we bring the kanima research that’s in Latin to Lydia as school. She should be able to translate that for us and then we’ll know more about what you are and maybe you’ll be able to gain control in the future.” Stiles suggested.

“Yeah, I’d like that,” Came Jackson’s response as he wiped the tears from his eyes.

“Okay, well I’m going to bed. Sourwolf, feel free to take the couch, since you’re kinda stuck there.” Derek growled, “Jackson, I’ll leave a pillow and blanket out for you, so you can sleep where ever.”

The next morning, Stiles woke up sandwiched between two bodies his head was on one person’s bare chest and he could feel another bare chest along his back. He couldn’t move enough to see who they were though. As he woke up more, he realized they must be Jackson and Derek. Man, he really wished his dad was still at work so he wouldn’t see this. Stiles would be in so much trouble if his dad walked in and Derek would be shot and his dad would call Jackson’s parents. All around a bad situation.

Stiles tried to extract himself from the cuddle party, but the two pairs of arms around him just held on tighter. He decided to start poking the person in front of him.

“Stop it, Stiles.” Came Jackson’s sleepy voice.

“Then let me up.” 

“No.” He said stubbornly.

“I have to pee.” Stiles tried.

“No you don’t.” Came Derek’s voice behind him.

“What, so you can smell when someone has to pee? That’s just gross.” Stiles insisted and he started elbowing Derek for good measure.

“Just let me up!” Stiles yelled, no longer caring if his dad was home or not.

Finally, Derek rolled away and got up and Jackson let go and scooted up the bed so he was sitting against the headboard.

“Stupid, cuddly, werewolves.” Stiles muttered as he got his clothes together to take into the bathroom with him. When he got back from his shower, Derek was gone and Jackson was wearing some of Stiles clothes.

“How did you manage to find something that fits you?” Stiles asked, remembering when Derek tried on his clothes and nothing fit.

“I have a talent for finding the needle in the haystack. The real question is how I can lower myself to your style and quality of dress.”

Stile rolled his eyes and went to print the Latin kanima research.

“Come on, we’re going to be late.”

When they got to school, the first thing they did was give Lydia the research. She said she would have it translated by lunch. He knew Lydia was impressive, but that seemed a little over the top, even to him.

After that, Jackson and Stiles went to their own respective lockers. While Stiles was getting his books, a sad looking Scott walked up to Stiles.

“Hey, buddy, why the long face?” He asked.

“Alison and I have to pretend we aren’t seeing each other. We can’t even hang out at school at all since her mom and grandpa are working here now.”

“That sucks, man.” And Stiles meant that sincerely. While he didn’t get as much bro time as he wanted lately, he really did like Alison and she was good for Scott just like Scott was good for her.

“Why do you smell like Jackson and Derek?” Scott asked out of the blue. 

“Oh, um, they were worried about the weather stuff so they spent the night last night. No big deal.” Stiles hoped that was enough of the truth that his heartbeat wouldn’t skip.

“Dude, why is Jackson wearing your clothes?”

“The decision to spend the night was last minute and he needed to borrow something.” Stiles explained.

Scott nodded, but seemed lost in thought on their way to class."

At lunch, Lydia and Jackson sat at Scott and Stiles’ lunch table. Sadly, Alison had to sit elsewhere. Lydia pulled out the translated research and started explaining.

“So, the kanima is formed when the person who was bit has an identity crisis of sorts, like they don’t know who they are or where they come from. A kanima is equipped with a paralyzing venom in its claws and tail. It is also hardwired to kill, but will not do so on its own.”

“What do you mean it won’t kill on its own?” Stiles asked.

“Well, you see here?” Lydia pointed to a paragraph in the research, “It says a kanima seeks a master. Since it has no identity of its own, it will blindly follow the master’s wishes. If the master wants somebody dead, the kanima will kill it. However, the kanima will not take an innocent life, only the lives of the guilty. There are consequences for the master if he or she orders the death of an innocent.”

“Okay, two questions,” Jackson said, “What kind of identity crisis am I having and who is my master?”

“That’s easy, Stiles is your master and you don’t know who you are because you were adopted.” Lydia said with a shrug as she neatly put away her research.

Jackson, Stiles, and Scott all exchange confused looks.

Finally, Stiles broke the silence, saying, “Well, either Deaton got the translation wrong or he intentionally gave me bad information. After another beat of silence he added, “Wait, is this why you’ve been super clingy lately?”


	9. Rübezahl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning Gerard Argent is in this chapter and he is not nice!
> 
> Also, thank you all for the kudos and wonderful comments. Love you guys!

After the revelation of the kanima master, Jackson was more distant than he had been the past couple of days. In fact, he was outright avoiding Stiles. At the end of the day, he asked Lydia for a ride home without even telling Stiles his plan. While Stiles understood the need to process everything, it still stung. They weren’t even friends before all this happened. At worst they were enemies and at best begrudging acquaintances. He didn’t know why this hurt so much after only a few days.

When he had been looking for Jackson it started to rain, but now that he knew the other boy left, there was an absolute downpour outside.

“’The strange weather isn’t coming from me’ my ass.” Stiles scoffed as he debated if it was worth making a run for it to his car or if he should wait out the storm. With how terrible he was feeling it probably wouldn’t let up soon, if his theory was correct.

Just then he felt a hand grab his shoulder.

“What are you still doing here, boy?” Stiles turned around to see it was none other than Gerard Argent. 

Stay calm, Stiles. He doesn’t know you’re something. Just stay calm. Stiles tried to reassure himself.

“I was supposed to give a friend a ride home but couldn’t find him. Turned out he got a ride from someone else and now I’m just waiting out the storm.” Stiles said, trying to keep his fear in check.

“Well, why don’t you wait it out in my office,” Gerard suggested, “You’d be able to sit instead of just standing around the doorway. It’ll be warmer, too.”

Stiles knew this was a trap of some sort, but he didn’t really have much of a choice. Not going with him would be like admitting he knew about the supernatural world and was a part of it in some way.

“Um, yeah, thanks.”

Stiles followed Gerard back to the office. When he got there, there were two other guys in the office wearing all black. As soon as he walked in the door, the men started beating him.

“I knew you hang around those mutts,” Gerard said, “And you’re going to deliver a message for me.”

Outside, rain became heavier and thunder and lightning started along with hail. It was the biggest storm Beacon Hills had ever seen. Lightning shot through the window, electrocuting one of the men beating up Stiles. Then the kanima climbed through the window and killed the other one. Gerard disappeared before the storm or the kanima could get to him.

When Stiles woke up, he was on a couch in an unfamiliar loft with a blanket draped over him. He sat up and looked around. There were voices coming from the kitchen, so he followed them. The whole pack was in the kitchen, talking in low voices around the island. There were papers spread out that they seemed to be referencing.

“Hey guys, what’s going on?” He said, aiming for casual, but it came out strained.

“You’re okay!” Scott said while Jackson and Derek rushed over to hug him.

“Ow!” Stiles exclaimed, not expecting the hugs to hurt so much.

“Sorry!” They both said.

“My mom came by to check you out while you were unconscious.” Scott explained, “She said you have a few broken ribs, but other than that you should be okay. She applied some antiseptic to the cuts on your face and chest.”

“Remind me to thank Mama McCall the next time I see her.” Stiles said, “Now what’s all this?” He asked.

“Well,” Lydia said with a toss of her hair, “This is all the research I’ve done on the weather and what you could be.”

“Lyds, you’ve had less than a day.” Stiles said, “You slept during that time, hopefully, we had school, and you translated the kanima research.”

“I know. I’m the best.” She smirked, “Tell me, Stiles, do you do any baking?”

“Baking?” He asked dubiously. After seeing the serious looks he was getting he responded, “Yeah. I bake a cake every year for my dad’s birthday. I bake cookies for the deputies at the station. My mom taught me how to make sourdough and now I make that twice a year. Why?”

“Sourdough! I knew it!” Stiles gave her a confused look.

“What does sourdough have to do with what I am?” He asked. He looked around and the others did not seem surprised by the line of logic Lydia was following. Maybe a few screws came loose in his head during the beating and he wasn’t able to fully comprehend what was going on.

“You are a rübezahl.” Lydia said matter-of-factly.

“A ruby-what?” Stiles asked. None of this was making sense.

“A rübezahl is described as a gnome-like creature living in the mountains of Poland. They are able to control the weather and, if they liked someone, would give them sourdough bread. However, they are also known as tricksters and would use their powers to punish those they didn’t like.” Lydia explained.

“That actually makes a lot of sense.” The rest of the pack nodded their heads in agreement. “So, it must have come from my mom’s side, right? She was a rübezahl? Must be with the sourdough thing. My dad said after their first date she showed up at his place with a loaf of sourdough for him. So did the bite activate me, like it did for Lydia? Was my mom bitten at some point? I wish she were here to answer these questions.” The last sentence was said quietly. Stiles didn’t even realize he had said it out loud until after it came out of his mouth. The mention and thought of his mother soured his mood.

“Did someone drive my jeep over?” He asked.

“I did.” Jackson said and he tossed Stiles the keys.

“I’m going to go home for a bit. I think I need to process.” The others all nodded in understanding.

When he got to the jeep he had to turn on google maps since he didn’t know where this loft was. Once he got his bearings, he started Roscoe and drove home. About halfway there he made an abrupt turn and ended up at the cemetery. He parked the jeep and walked to his mother’s grave.

“Hey, mom.” He said, “So I just found out I’m a mountain gnome thing that can control the weather and make great sourdough. That’s pretty cool. Turns out you were one, too. I wish you were here to answer all my questions. Did you ever tell dad what you were? That I might be one too? Should I tell him about all of this? It’d just a lot to handle and if I can’t handle it, the weather goes wonky. That’s a lot of pressure for a sixteen-year-old.”

He continued babbling for a little bit, telling her about Scott being bitten and the adventures since then. He told her about Derek kissing him and his subsequent sexual awakening and how nice it was to share a bed with Jackson. He told her about being Jackson’s master and how he didn’t know how much that affected their dynamic and what the two boys felt for each other. He told her all about the feelings he had for both Derek and Jackson and how he didn’t know what to do about any of it. He ended up crying at her grave until late in the night.

He didn’t realize he had fallen asleep until he was being shaken awake. He opened his eyes to see his father’s face in the dim light of the flashlight.

“Let’s get you home.” He said. Stiles nodded and followed his dad to the cruiser. When they got home, Stiles asked, “Did you know?”

His father gave him a sad, but warm look, “Yeah, I knew, kiddo. She told me after we got engaged. When she was pregnant with you she said she didn’t know which one of us you’d take after.” Stiles nodded, absorbing the information.

“What happened to your face?” His dad asked.

“There are hunters in town,” Stiles said, wanting to be honest with his father, “They think I’m a human running with wolves. Wanted to use me to send a message.”

His father pulled him into a hug, but Stiles shied away. “Broken ribs.” He explained.

Stiles went up stairs to start getting ready for bed.

“Your mother left some journals for you.” The sheriff said from the doorway, “They explain what you are and how to control it. I’ll grab them from the attic and they’ll be on the dinner table for you in the morning.”

“Thanks, Dad.” Stiles smiled. His mom may not be here to guide him in person, but she still knew what he needed.

The next morning he woke up earlier than usual and got ready quickly so he could read his mother’s journals. His dad had already left for work, but they were sitting there on the table just like he said they’d be.

"My darling Mieczyslaw, I love you so much and it pains me that I will not be there when you come into your abilities. When you were first born we did not know if you would be human or rübezahl, but with how quickly you took to sourdough making it’s a pretty good guess you would take after me. Our kind come of age at twenty-five, which is when the brain fully develops. That is because our powers are too dangerous to be in the hands of those still young enough to be lead by emotions. Our supernatural side is the final thing to be developed.

That being said, there are situations that could cause you to come out before you are ready. I pray this does not happen to you, my little Mieczyslaw. These journals include the scope of your abilities, how to control them, and what I know about the rest of the supernatural world. I know you are going to do great things, Mischief. I love you so much, and one day, I hope you are able to give a loaf of sourdough to the one you love just like I did with your father. Now go out and be the amazing young man I know you have become."


	10. Not a Zombiewolf

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings: brief homophobic language and a panic attack

Since the day Stiles found out what he was he was consumed by his mother’s journals. At his father’s insistence he would finish his homework before opening the journals. He found out that his mom had no answer to his sourdough questions and he learned what emotions trigger which weather event and started to learn how to separate it from his emotions and control it on his own terms. He would go to the abandoned train depot to practice and usually either Derek or Jackson would be there with him, sometimes both. It was nice spending time with them and showing them what he could do. Both men tended to see Stiles as someone who needed protection, so it was fun to prove them wrong. Well, it was until Stiles accidentally sent a beam flying and it landed on top of him.

“A little help here, guys! I might be badass, but I don’t have werewolf strength.”

“I don’t either, idiot.” Jackson replied. And that was true; Jackson had no access to his supernatural abilities unless the kanima completely took over, which really sucked for him.

Derek came over and lifted the beam so Stiles could wiggle out.

“I’m going to see if Lydia’s available. She said she had information on my birth parents, but then went AWOL.” Jackson said.

“She’s probably busy planning her birthday party. She only has a few hours left to make everything perfect.” Stiles mentioned.

Jackson gave his agreement that Stiles was probably right before taking his leave.

“You need to be more careful.” Derek said once Jackson was gone.

“I am careful.”

“No, you get buried under beams.” Stiles could not argue that point this was not the first and probably not the last time he’s accidently thrown a beam at himself.

“I just want to get a handle on all of this, you know?” Stiles said, “I want her to be proud of me.” He added a little more quietly.

“I know.” Derek said, “I know probably more than anyone.”

Stiles gave him a confused look. Derek was born with his powers, he grew up with a family who educated him on what he was and taught him control. How would he know what Stiles was going through?

“You aren’t the only one with a dead parent, Stiles.” Derek said, “And my mom wasn’t just my mom, but my alpha. The alpha powers I have now were once hers. I grew up learning to be a werewolf, but was never taught how to be an alpha. That was Laura’s job. Everything is so much more intense and I have to lead and I don’t know how. I’m trying my best, but after biting Jackson I felt a deep need to grow my pack. I almost bit three kids from your high school. The only reason I was able to stop was thinking of what happened to you and Lydia and Jackson. I didn’t want something else to go wrong. I didn’t want to dishonor her that way, so I didn’t. I can’t even bite a person right. What would my mother and alpha think of me?”

“You didn’t bite me or Lydia. That was Peter. You also are not at fault for what happened to Jackson. You didn’t know that he was adopted or that his adopted status would turn him into a lizard-man.” Stiles said, “These things do not reflect who you are as an alpha.”

Derek nodded and the two sat next to each other on the beam.

“Who were you going to bite?” Stiles asked.

“This kid who works at the graveyard.” Derek said, “I’ve seen his dad yelling at him and figured he could use a good pack. This girl, Erica. I’ve seen her at the hospital, she has epilepsy. The bite would cure it. And this guy who works at the skating rink, I’ve never seen him with anyone and, like with the first kid, I thought he could use a pack.”

Stiles smiled, “Seems to me like you are already an amazing alpha.” Derek gave him a questioning look, “No, hear me out. The three people you picked to be part of the pack, Isaac, Erica, and Boyd, you picked them because you want to help them. You see the overlooked people and that they need and you want to provide that for them. I didn’t grow up in a pack, but that seems like something an alpha should have the instincts to see and help. You should follow those instincts and offer the bite. It won’t end up like Jackson. I promise.”

Derek gave him a rare smile. “Thanks, Stiles.”

Later that night Stiles made his way to Lydia’s party. It was the first time he was invited to go instead of crashing it with Scott later in the night. When he got there the party was already in full swing. He left his gift for Lydia on the gift table and moved over to the punch bowl to get a drink.

He walked around the party for a little bit looking for his friends. He knew he probably wouldn’t find Alison and Scott since this party was a great way to sneak off together without her family knowing.

After looking for his friends and not being able to find them, he started to give up, but then he heard his dad.

“Why am I wearing black? I just came from a funeral! Get out of my face.” Stiles was surprised to see his father push a kid to the ground. He had a bottle in his hand and seemed like he had been drinking. Things hadn’t been this bad in a while.

His father turned to look at him.

“It’s you.” He said, “It’s all you. You know every day I saw her lying in that hospital, slowly dying I thought how the hell am I supposed to raise this stupid kid on my own? This hyperactive little bastard who keep ruining my life!” Stiles tried to hold back his tears, but hearing these words that came out of his father’s mouth hurt deeply. “It’s all you.” His father continued as party-goers stared at them, “It’s you Stiles. You killed your mother, you hear me? She knew you’d end up a fag and it killed her and now you’re killing me.”

His father lifted the bottle in his hand and threw it at Stiles, but it never reached its target. When he looked up, his dad was gone. Stiles looked at his cup of punch and saw a purple tint to it. He moved through the throng of people back to the punch bowl and saw that there was wolfsbane in it. He looked around the party and realized there were others hallucinating like he had been. He made it back outside where it was quieter and pulled out his phone. He dialed Derek’s number, but there was no answer and it went to voicemail. He then tried to contact Jackson, but the same thing happened. He hadn’t seen Lydia at the party, so he called her, too, but that went to voicemail as well.

He finally got a hold of his dad and told him that there were a bunch of teenagers high on aconite at Lydia’s party. He said he bring send some cruisers over to check on the situation and probably and ambulance or two as well. Stiles went back to the punch and dumped it all out so that no one else would duffer the side effects. Then he left to try and track down Lydia, Derek, and Jackson.

As his worry grew, so did the wind around him. He kept seeing flashes around him and he realized the wolfsbane was still in his system. He was still hallucinating. Did he even make the calls he thought he did?

When the panic started to set in he saw a figure approach him.

“Hey, hey, hey. It’s okay Stiles. It’s okay.” He knew that voice. He struggles to focus on the face in front of him. Jackson.

“Are you real?” Stiles asked through gasps for breath.

Jackson reached forward and touched Stiles’ cheek. “Do you feel that? I’m real. I’m here.” Jackson said.

Stiles tried to focus on that, but it was so hard. There was so much panic. There was nothing strong enough to stop everything going on inside Stiles-

There were lips on his lips. Someone was kissing him. Slowly the other lips retreated and Stiles opened his eyes. Jackson: he was really here and he just kissed him.

“You kissed me.” Stiles said.

Jackson smirked at him, “Well, something needed to shock you out of your panic.”

“We have to find Derek and Lydia. She did something with the punch.” 

“I know. Let’s check Derek’s usual haunts first. Hopefully Lydia’s with him.”

Stiles nodded his agreement and Jackson pulled him up and helped him into the porch. They decided to try the Hale house first since the preserve was closer than the train depot or the loft. When they got there they saw fresh tire tracks, but no car. Jackson went upstairs while Stiles checked the main floor so that they could cover ground more quickly incase their friends weren’t there.

“Jackson!” Stiles yelled as soon as he got to the back room. There was a large hole in the ground surrounded by floor length mirrors and Derek way lying on the ground. Stiles rushed to his side and rolled Derek onto his back.

“Is he okay?” Jackson asked as he came into the room.

“I don’t know.” Stiles placed his head on Derek’s chest and checked his pulse.

“He’s still breathing. He’s alive.” Stiles said. He moved Derek’s head onto his lap, “Come on, Derek, wake up!”

His eyelids fluttered a little, but other than that there was no response.

“Who did this to you?” Jackson asked.

“Lydia.” Derek responded, “Peter.”


	11. Villain Interlude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a really short update and there's no Stiles, Jackson, or Derek in this one. Sorry! But I do hope to have another update later today with those three.

Gerard sat back in his office chair, looking over the security footage from the last few weeks. Stiles injuries heal and so did his spirit. Gerard did not like this confident look the boy had now. It’s like the boy was mocking at every turn.

He paused the video at the lighting strike that killed one of his men. This boy was not as human as he appeared to be. He was something else, just like those mutts he spent so much time with. 

He hit play again and paused it when the kanima came in. He looked at the bestiary on his desk, “The kanima seeks a master,” it said.

If he wanted to take out these mutts, he was going to need something more powerful to do it and that something was the kanima. He just needed to get the Stilinski boy out of the way and in order to do that needed to figure out what he was. Gerard started flipping through his bestiary to the creatures connected to the weather. This ragtag pack was not going to beat his family again.


	12. Not a Love Story

“Who did this to you?” Jackson asked.

“Lydia.” Derek responded, “Peter.”

Jackson reached out and grabbed Derek’s hand.

“He feels so cold.” He said to Stiles. Stiles was holding Derek’s head in his lap as he nodded.

“We have to get him somewhere safe.” Tears were starting to form in the corners of Stiles’ eyes. Derek looked so pale. He had no idea what Lydia and Peter did to him, but it did not look good.

“Let’s take him to the loft.” Jackson said, “Derek moved in after Peter died, so he doesn’t know it exists.”

Stiles nodded and helped Jackson carry Derek to the car. They lay him down in the back of the porch and they drove to the loft. Once inside, Jackson called Deaton while Stiles started researching what was happening to Derek and trying to find whatever ritual Lydia did to bring Peter back.

It was baffling that Lydia would ever be a part of this. Sure, she wasn’t really involved in anything when Peter had been terrorizing them, but he still bit Lydia and almost killed her. She’d also heard all the stories of what he did to everyone else. There is no way she would be a willing participant. Stiles believed that with his whole heart.

“Deaton will be here soon.” Jackson broke Stiles out of his obsessive thoughts, “He said he’d be discrete and not tell anyone where he was going or what he was doing. Not even the pack.”

“That’s smart. After Lydia’s betrayal we should play this close to the chest until we know what’s going on.”

Jackson went and got a cool rag and placed it on Derek’s forehead before sitting by his side to watch for any changes to his condition. Stiles sat nearby, but was focused on finding a way to help Derek.

Soon, there was a knock on the door and Jackson went to open it. Deaton went into full doctor/druid mode right away, checking on Derek’s vitals.

“Have you figured out what ritual it was that did this to him?” Deaton asked.

“Not yet.” Stiles responded, “We know it involved mirrors, Derek, Lydia, and raising Peter from the dead. We don’t know what the relation of those things are or what was done to Derek.”

“It sounds like a banshee resurrection ritual.” Deaton said, “It can only be done on the full moon and there needs to be a living relative of the deceased involved. The banshee preforming the ritual also needs to have a bond with the banshee. My guess is somehow Peter knew of Lydia’s heritage and bit her as a contingency plan.”

“Sounds like Peter.” Stiles grumbled, “So how much was Lydia aware of what she was doing and how do we help Derek?”

“It’s likely Lydia did not know what was going on. If Peter was clinging to her to resurrect him, he very likely had a way into her mind to manipulate her. As for Derek, there is nothing we can do to help him. He will slowly regain his strength, but we must wait.”

“Thanks, Doc.” Jackson said and he showed the man out.

“I wish there was something more we could do.” Stiles said as he put his laptop away.

They say on either side of Derek’s bed, each holding one of his hands as he slept.

“We need to talk about what happened earlier. With the kiss.” Jackson said. His eyes focused on Derek’s hand.

“What about it?” Stiles asked. He was nervous now. Was this conversation going to lead to something, or would it be like his conversation with Derek just a day after his kiss with the man.

“The reason I kissed you,” Jackson started, “Was to get you out of your panic attack. I read that it helps to change your breathing pattern and I figured a surprise kiss would help with that. I didn’t expect it to fell so…” Jackson faltered, not able to find the right word to express what he was feeling.

“Yeah, I know what you mean.”

“The thing is,” He continued, “I don’t know if it’s me feeling those things, or him. He sees you as his master, his everything. He would do anything for you and I just don’t know if what I feel for you is actually me, or just residual feelings from the bond you have with the kanima.”

That stung more than Stiles wanted to admit, but he understood. He knew they wouldn’t be anywhere near as close as they were now if it wasn’t for his bond with the kanima.

“I understand, Jacks,” Stiles voice broke, “I would never want to force you into anything and I know with the kanima and everything, you need to be sure. But I don’t know how to help you with that. If I knew how to cure you, I would in a heartbeat. If I could transfer this master thing to someone else in the pack so we could explore if there even is a we, I would-”

“No, Stiles,” Jackson interrupted, “I don’t want anyone else to be my master. You’re the only one I trust. I know you would never send me to kill anyone. I know you won’t take advantage of me. I would love to be cured, but you’re the only master I want.”

In that moment, Stiles wanted nothing more than to lean over and kiss the other boy, but in light of their conversation, knew he probably would never be able to do so. 

This was harder than his conversation with Derek. With Derek, there was a possibility of a future when he was of age, but there probably would never be a cure for the kanima. They were left with a lingering “What if” that would never be answered and that hurt more than anything else.

He could see the pain in Jackson’s eyes that he was trying to hide and knew he wasn’t the only one who hated what needed to happen… or, well, not happen in this case. But until they knew what was the kanima and what was Jackson, it just couldn’t happen.

Despite the heartache they were both feeling, they decided to stay with Derek, together. They each curled up on either side of the man and settled in for the night.


	13. Not My Father

Waking up next to the two people he really liked, but knowing he couldn’t have either in that way (at least for now) was hard. His heart ached for both of them. He rolled out of bed and made his way to the kitchen to make breakfast. He figured it wouldn’t hurt as much if he didn’t have to look at them. He was wrong. Everything around him reminded him of Derek since he was in the man’s loft and thinking of one heartbreak reminded him of the other. Technically he never had either man, but it hurt as if it were two real breakups. He would get over it, he knew. One day things might work out with Derek or he could find a completely different person to spend his life with and make sourdough for, but until then he had to learn to live with the pain.

He made more food than usual because he knew werewolves had big appetites and Derek was healing, which means he would even more. Not to mention Jackson’s appetite as a teen jock. Stiles himself had quite a healthy appetite normally, but wasn’t sure how much he would be eating this morning.

It was a Sunday, so he and Jackson didn’t have to rush off anywhere. They were free to stay and take care of Derek. When Stiles got up he noticed more color in Derek’s cheeks, which was good. He was slowly coming back to himself. Hopefully breakfast will help even more.

Shortly after he finished preparing everything, Jackson came into the kitchen.

“Smells good.” He said. There was a lingering awkwardness in the air that neither one of them knew how to rectify.

“Thanks.” Stiles replied, “Could you bring this plate to Derek and wake him up? He needs to eat to build up his strength.”

“Yeah, no problem.” As he took the plate from Stiles, their fingers brushed. It made Jackson blush and caused an ache of longing to rush through Stiles. He quickly pushed it down. He couldn’t have Jackson and he had to accept that.

Stiles looked over at the bed in the corner of the room and saw Jackson help Derek sit up and give him the food. Jackson came back and grabbed his plate, then went to join Derek on the bed. Stiles knew he should grab his food and join them, but couldn’t bring himself to do that just yet. Instead, he busied himself cleaning the dishes and wiping down the counter and the stove.

Eventually he felt a hand rest on his shoulder, “I got this, Stilinski. Go eat.” Jackson said. Stiles nodded, grabbed his plate, and went to join Derek on the bed.

Derek saw the interaction in the kitchen and knew something was off and he would have to fix it.

“I heard your conversation last night.” He said. Stiles kept his eyes focused not his plate and refused to respond. There was no way he and Derek were talking about this. “I know it hurts,” He said, “And I know it hurts Jackson, too. I can smell the pain coming off both of you and it’s not a pain I can take away. It’ll get better, but avoiding each other isn’t going to help. I know avoiding you didn’t help me at all.”

Stiles looked up and gave him a long look, “Thanks, Sourwolf.”

Derek opened his arms and Stiles snuggled in, seeking the comfort of the older man.

Later that day saw Derek up and about. He was almost at full strength again and there was still no word from Peter or Lydia. It was unnerving not knowing what Peter was up to, and they were all worried about what happened to Lydia after she played her part in the ritual.

It was around dinnertime that Stiles’ phone went off with his Dad’s name flashing across the screen.

“Hey, Daddio, what’s up?” He said jovially.

“Stiles, there are men at the station. They’ve taken the place hostage. I think they’re hunters, but I thought they were supposed to keep humans out of it and stay under the radar.”

He could tell his dad was scared and confused. He looked over at Derek and Jackson and saw Derek was listening intently.

“That’s probably Gerard and his men.” Stiles said, “They don’t play by the rules. They’re the ones who roughed me up a few weeks ago. Try not to engage, the pack is coming.”

Derek already had his phone out texting the pack to meet them at the station. The three of them climbed into the porch and set out to save Stiles’ dad and his deputies.   
They parked about a block away to avoid detection. Stiles told Jackson to get into kanima form and paralyze the hunters around the perimeter. Even though he hated these men for what they did to the Hales and for taking his father hostage, they were going to try and avoid killing as much as possible. Derek and Stiles stayed hidden behind some bushes until Jackson came back, signaling that the coast was clear.

They waited until the rest of the pack arrived, which didn’t take long. Even Alison showed up to take on her own grandfather in order to save Stiles’ dad. He had doubted where they stood before, if they only cared about each other in a “you’re dating my best friend” kind of way, but this cemented the fact that they really were friends and packmates outside of their individual relationships with Scott.

When they got inside, the reception area was in disarray. Papers were thrown everywhere and lights were broken and flickering. There was an eerie lack of people. They moved through the station expecting there to be someone around each corner or hiding behind the desks, but they found no one. Eventually they made it to the holding cells where they found the sheriff behind his own cell doors and Gerard waiting for the pack, alone.

“You’re outnumbered.” Derek said and the pack took on their fighting stances. 

“Am I, though?” Gerard asked as a bullet hit Stiles in the shoulder. They all looked around, trying to figure out where it came from. “You’re surrounded, even after your kanima took care of a good number of my men.” Another shot came and hit Stiles in the other shoulder. Everyone could hear the rumblings of a storm starting and Stiles tried to fight off the pain.

“I could have my snipers take care of you more human creatures, easily. All I have to do is give the command.”

That statement was more telling than Gerard realized. His men weren’t using wolfsbane bullets. The wolves weren’t his targets this time. He was intentionally gunning for Stiles for some unknown reason. He already had two bullets in him, so it was obvious he was the one Gerard wanted dead: not Lydia or Alison. The fact that there was no wolfsbane put Scott and Derek at an advantage. They still didn’t know if it affected Jackson the same way it did wolves, but the lack of the substance probably helped him, too. Gerard should be smarter than that. Something was wrong.

Out of nowhere another bullet came and pierced Stiles right above his heart. He fell to the ground with a loud thud. He saw Jackson’s kanima leave the group, looking for the shooter who dared hurt his master. The others started going for Gerard in a disorganized mess and then it all went black.


	14. Jackson Interlude I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was not the chapter I started working on last night, but inspiration struck. I'm hoping to have another full chapter done by the end of the day.

Jackson stayed as the kanima after taking care of the hunters around the perimeter. After the first gunshot, he wanted to get the bastard who shot his master, but he knew he needed to stay. The second shot put him even more on edge, but his master needed him to stay. The third shot snapped something in him. He could tell his master was on the verge of death and the kanima needed to avenge that. 

He took off in the direction the shot came from. His rage and panic over his master gave him tunnel vision for his mission. That’s why he didn’t see the cage until he had already run into it was trapped.

He was panicking. Every moment that passed he could feel his connection to his master weaken. Whether this was because his master was close to death or because he had defied his master’s order to stay, he did not know.

There was no way to know how long he was in the cage before an old man walked up to him.

“Look at you,” the man said, “Stuck in here like a caged animal. Let’s get you out of here. I’ll take care of you.”

The man broke open the door of the cage. He looked vaguely familiar and the kanima slowly worked his out of the cage toward the man. The man had his hand outstretched with his palm facing the kanima and he lifted his clawed hand and placed his palm on the man’s.


	15. Not a Master

Stiles woke up in stages. He could hear a distant beeping and there was a strong smell of bleach in his nose. He tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids were too heavy. Sleep eventually took him again.

The next time he woke up he was actually able to open his eyes and was blinded by the bright lights of the room. He soon realized he was in a hospital bed. A glance around the room reveled his dad and Derek asleep in the chairs next to his bed. He had no clue what time it was, but since the lights were on it had to be during the day.

Soon, a nurse came in to check on him and, when she saw he was awake, left to get the doctor. Her entrance woke up his dad and Derek.

“I’m so glad you’re okay, son.” The sheriff said as Derek reached for his hand.

“Where’s the rest of the pack?” Was the first thing out of his mouth.

“Alison’s staying with Lydia at her house,” Derek answered, “After what Gerard pulled she couldn’t go home. Scott is in the waiting room. He hasn’t left since you’ve been admitted. No one has seen Jackson since he went after your attacker.”

Stiles could see the worry in Derek’s eyes. The two of them had been spending more time together since all of this started. They had their differences at first, but he knew they had become friends these past few weeks.

“We’ll find him.” Stiles said, giving Derek’s hand a reassuring squeeze although he didn’t know which one of them needed the reassurance in that moment.

Stiles closed his eyes and tried to call Jackson to himself. He had never done it intentionally and didn’t know if it would even work if he wasn’t in immediate danger, but he had to try.

“Now that you’re awake, I should go check on the station,” the sheriff said, “There’s a clean up effort going on and a manhunt for Gerard. He cannot go after my son and my employees and get away with it. I’ll send Scott in on my way out.”

“I don’t know how this whole master thing works,” Derek started, “But can you feel him? Like an alpha can feel his betas?”

“I wish it worked that way.” Stiles responded, “I have no way to know what’s happening to him.” Derek squeezed his hand just like Stiles had done for him earlier.

Just then Scott came bounding into the room, “I’m so glad you’re okay!” he said before he jumped on Stiles, giving him a big hug.

“Ow! Scott! Gunshot victim!” Stiles exclaimed.

“Oh my god, I am so sorry!” Scott said as he let go of Stiles and backed away.

“Dude, it’s okay. Just maybe a little less forceful next time.” The bashful look Scott gave him put a smile on Stiles face. It was good to know some things would never change.

He had to stay one more night for observation and then he was released as long as there was someone to take care of him. Between his dad, Derek, and Scott, they figured they had it covered.

The sheriff came into the hospital room with a wheel chair and wheeled him out to the cruiser.

“We found the gun that shot you.” Stiles’ dad said, “It was mounted on a roof across the street set up to a system that allowed for it to be controlled remotely. One of his men was somewhere else aiming for you. We also found an empty cage in that area and Derek said it smelled like Jackson in his kanima form.”

“We have to find him.” Stiles said.

“I know, son, and we will. I would have my men out looking, but he is most likely still a kanima and I can’t exactly tell them to keep an eye out for a person sized lizard, now can I? Whenever two of us aren’t with you, we’re looking. Lydia and Alison are, too. Even Alison’s father has joined us against Gerard. We will find Jackson and we’ll get this bastard.”

Stiles nodded. He knew the pack was doing everything they could for him and Jackson. He believed they would eventually come out on top. But he hated the waiting. And it wasn’t even just the waiting; it was the fact that he was stuck on the sidelines while his wounds healed. He wished his kind healed as fast as werewolves so he could go out there and find Jackson and strike down Gerard with everything in him. It was the first time he ever actually wanted someone dead and he wanted to do it himself.

Derek was waiting for them at the Stilinski house and helped Stiles get comfortable on the recliner in the living room. His father left for the station, there were still things that needed cleaning and organizing there so he was working extra hours, and Derek went to the kitchen to make Stiles some breakfast.

He heard the backdoor open and Derek start to growl, but he couldn’t see what was going on. He knew that if he moved too much he would reopen his wounds, so he got up carefully and went into the kitchen.

Derek had Peter pushed up against the wall. Both of there eyes were glowing.

“Is that any way to treat your uncle?” Peter asked, feigning innocence.

“This is how I treat the sociopath who didn’t care if his own nephew was killed in his hunt for revenge.” Derek responded.

“Oh, that.” Peter rolled his eyes, clearly not caring that he was at a disadvantage, “My brain hadn’t fully healed from the fire and I had a newly acquired alpha spark. No one should be expected to think straight under those circumstances. You should understand since you can’t seem to think straight yourself.” Peter laughed at his own little joke before continuing, “I came with news about your lizard friend.”

“You know what happened to Jackson?” Stiles said, trying to keep the hope out of his voice. Peter was insufferable under the best of circumstances; Stiles learned that through stories Derek would tell him, but a Peter who knew he has something important that someone else wanted or needed was unbearable. Stiles knew, however, that in this case his reaction didn’t matter. Peter knew, somehow, how much Jackson meant to Derek and Stiles.

“Yes, I’ve been keeping tabs on things from afar since returning and I have seen a lot, including what happened to your pet.”

“Where is he?” Derek growled, pushing Peter into the wall again for emphasis.

“He has a new master now, sadly, and he is going to be used to kill all his little friends. Currently, he is at a warehouse on the edge of town that’s owned by Argent Arms.”

“Why are you telling us this?” Stile knew Peter would never give up information so freely.

“If that kanima stays under Argent’s control he’ll have a very effective tool to kill all werewolves and I for one like staying alive.”

Stiles nodded. That answer seemed about right.

“Let’s get the pack and go.” Stiles said.

“You aren’t coming.” At first, Stiles thought he was talking to Peter because there was no way they could trust him not to backstab anyone in this fight, but then he realized Derek had released Peter and was looking at him.

“What do you mean I’m not going?”

“You’re healing.” Derek stated the obvious and Stiles rolled his eyes.

“I’m not an invalid.” Stiles insisted, “If I break my stitches saving Jackson and all of supernatural kind than so be it. I don’t even have to move much to control my powers. I can do this. I’m the only one the kanima will listen to. Seeing me could break his bond with Gerard.”

Derek glared at Stiles, clearly not wanting to budge on this matter.

“You know, I think the boy will just go whether you allow it or not.” Peter added and it was the first time Stiles had ever been glad that Peter Hale was alive.


	16. Not a Killer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit of a shorter chapter, but I hope y'all still like it!

Derek made Stiles settle back into the recliner as he called the pack and Christ Argent to meet them at the Stilinski house. They were not going to be going against Gerard blind again. Peter sat back on the couch with a smirk that he flashed at each pack member as they showed up. The pack opted to sit on the floor or get chairs from the dinning room rather than sit anywhere near Peter.

Derek came back in with a plate of dinner for Stiles and sat on the opposite end of the couch as Peter.

Chris pulled out the blueprints for Argent Arms’ Beacon Hills warehouse and they started discussing what security measures Gerard might have taken and how best to deal with the hunters who were there. Stiles wanted to see blueprints, but couldn’t from where he was sitting. He knew if he pushed himself here, then Derek would fight him about going on the rescue mission, so he just sat back and listened to the plan.

The sheriff wasn’t able to leave work for the meeting, but he was looped in to the plan because they were going to try and have as many of the hunters arrested as possible. Chris said there was enough evidence of illegal arms dealing that they could all be taken down in the legal system instead of needing to kill them. Despite the plan, Stiles wasn’t sure he would be able to hold back when it came to Gerard.

Alison and Chris were set up on two different nearby rooftops to provide cover. Stiles knew this was a big deal that Derek was trusting two Argents to have his back. They managed to trick Danny into hacking for them again and Lydia was looking at the security feed he set up for them. They all knew one day Danny would learn about the supernatural, but they also knew this wasn’t the way he should find out.

Stiles, Scott, and the two Hales were making their way into the warehouse under Lydia’s instruction. They were able to take out the hunters one by one. They soon realized the best way to incapacitate them was for Stiles to shock them with his lightning, which ended up working like a high-powered taser. 

“The next left up ahead will lead you to the big open area that Gerard and Jackson are in. As far as I can see no one else is there. Chris, Alison do you two have a visual?” Lydia asked.

“Affirmative” Both of the Argents responded.

The three of them moved slowly into the main area of the warehouse.

“It took you longer than I thought.” Came Gerard’s voice. Derek and Scott both took up a fighting stance in front of Stiles, which caused him to roll his eyes. Wasn’t the plan for the kanima to see Stiles and solidify the bond again? How could that happen if Derek and Scott kept pushing him to the back?

Stiles felt a sharp pain on the back of his neck and then he was collapsing to the floor. Before he could warn them, Derek and Scott were down too with kanima venom in their systems.

“I’m glad you could finally join us,” Gerard said, “I’ve been wanting to show off my latest weapon. It wasn’t hard to get him to change his loyalties. I think he needed a master who has more of a bit; who will allow him to live out his purpose…”

Stiles rolled his eyes. Villains monologing was such a cliché. Peter did it and now Gerard. It was terrible and because of the venom in his system he had no choice but to listen.

“I did save the kanima’s first kill under my reign for someone very special. “Gerard continued, “Will it be the mutt who took my granddaughter from me? The mutt who somehow managed to survive my precious daughter, or the rübezahl who managed to survive once already?”

It was in that moment that Stiles realized Peter had disappeared. He shouldn’t be surprised that the man would leave when the danger started, but hopefully this was some deeper plan and not a selfish, survival instinct. He didn’t count on anything positive, though.

“Now, kanima, kill.” Gerard commanded. It sent a chill down Stiles’ spine. Gerard was going to force Jackson to kill one of his friends. If he ever came back from the kanima, he knew Jackson would never be able to live with himself after this.

With that, Jackson took action, crawling across the floor towards the three of them. Scott was the first one the kanima approached, but he moved passed him. Jackson paused a little bit longer with Derek, but moved on from his as well. 

Soon, the kanima was leaning over Stiles. He knew this was the end. He had been lucky enough times in avoiding death, but there was no avoiding it this time. Or, well, that was what he thought before he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. Peter. That jerk was going to help them after all. He had to stall and he had to give Peter cover. Soon, a thick fog was rolling throughout the warehouse.


	17. Jackson Interlude II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How I interpret kanimas to work: unlike with werewolves, the kanima is not an extension of the human, but a seperate personality of sorts. When the kanima is in charge, there is no Jackson and vice versa. Since the kanima is made because of a lack of identity, it keeps its lack of identity with no memories and no free will. Because of this, Jackson will not recognize the pack when they come to the rescue.

The kanima was waiting in the warehouse with his master. He didn’t understand why they were waiting, but they were. Soon, three men entered the room he and his master were in and he felt the command to paralyze them, but not kill them yet. He obeyed the order, then went back to sit at his master’s feet.

He knew his master was talking about something, but he was focused on the other men. Somehow, they looked familiar. He didn’t know how to explain it, but he felt a connection to two of them. It was strange.

“Now, kanima, kill.” At his master’s command he moved over to the three men. The first one he came across was the one he slightly recognized, but felt no connection to. He moved on to the second, there was a connection to this one. It felt weak, but it had the potential to grow and become really strong. He moved on again to the third man. Not only did this man look familiar, but there were two connections with him, one felt like the same he felt with the other man, but the second bond felt like the same one he had with his master, but this bond felt weak and broken in a way. 

He saw the man look past him and then the room started to fill with fog. He couldn’t see anything else in the warehouse but this young man in front of him who he has been commanded to kill. He could sense there was another person in the warehouse, but that didn’t matter in that moment. 

He made the decision not to kill the person in front of him. This man was innocent. He could sense there was one kill in this man’s past, but it was in self-defense. This man did not deserve to die. It was the first time he had made an independent decision. 

He was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that his master would order him to kill an innocent. No one deserving of being his master would command the death of an innocent. In that moment, he felt the bond break. For the first time, he had no master.

“Jackson, look at me.” Said the man under him. There was a crackle of something coming from the man’s ear, “My name is Stiles Stilinski, I am your friend and former master. You are Jackson Whitmore. You were adopted by the Whitmores after your birth parents, Gordon and Margaret Miller, were killed in a car accident. Your mother was still pregnant with you during the accident and you were an emergency delivery after the accident. You are seventeen years old and ridiculously rich. You may not be a werewolf, but you have a pack that cares about you. You hide behind this confident jock persona, but you care deeply about how people see you and you care about those you let in.”

Slowly, the kanima started to recede and Jackson could feel himself gaining power over his body again. However, he felt like more. There were scents and sounds everywhere; it was overwhelming. He could feel his eyes glowing.

“I’m a werewolf.” He said.

“Yeah you are.” Responded Stiles, “You just needed a reminder of who you are. Now go help Peter.”

Jackson gave a confused look, but left to do just that.


	18. Not a Choice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it! It's the end! Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments and kudos. I look forward to writing more fics in the future and improving my writing style. Love you all!

After Jackson ran off to fight Gerard, he saw Derek and Scott start to move. Hopefully that meant he’d be able to get up soon, too.

“Thanks Lyds.” He said into the earpiece. Without her he might be kanima food right now.

“He deserved to know the truth, both about who he is and how you feel. You should have added that second part.”

“I’ll tell him when we aren’t in the middle of a life and death situation.”

Scott went to join the fight and Derek helped Stiles up.

“I don’t hear fighting anymore. Those sounds stopped after Jackson got there.” Derek said.

Stiles lifted the fog he had brought into the warehouse and what he saw surprised him. Peter, Scott, and Jackson were all standing around a paralyzed Gerard. The surprising part was that Jackson, while he was wolfed out, still had some kanima features including his venomous claws and his tail.

“I want to kill him.” Jackson said, “I want to kill him so badly. He deserves it. I can feel it.”

Derek and Stiles moved to either side of Jackson, each placed a comforting and grounding hand on his arms. Jackson shifted back to human.

“Are you okay, Jacks?” Stiles asked.

“I’m still a kanima, sort of, but I’m also a wolf and I’m fully me. It’s weird.” Jackson confessed.

“I think we all want to kill him.” Derek added, “He does deserve to die. He’s caused so much pain and death. But we have the means to put him behind bars for life. As much as I want to deal the death blow myself, we have a chance to be better than him.”

Everyone but Peter nodded their agreement, “Boring.” The contrary man said with an eye roll.

Chris joined them in the warehouse and made sure the evidence was in plain view and they all made it out of there just as the wolves could hear a bunch of cruisers pull up to check out an anonymous tip. Fifteen minutes later Stiles got a text from his dad with a thumbs up. Their plan worked; no one died, the hunters were going away for life, and Jackson was finally his own person again. Stiles let a smile overtake is face.

It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Chris was arrested, but once it was revealed that he was the whistle blower, he was only given ten years with a potential for parole after five years. Alison moved in with the Martin and it hurt, but they all knew it was for the best.

Stiles was in the kitchen getting ready for the people he had invited over. He was kind of nervous, but happy. He knew after tonight everything would slot into place, he just had to get through the awkwardness of tonight.

The doorbell rang and Stiles went to open it. Both Derek and Jackson were there. They had come together, which made Stiles smile, but made his heart hurt a little bit. After the craziness of the kanima, Jackson revealed that his parents were never really around and he was often alone. Since then he had been spending a lot more time either at the loft or the Stilinski house. While he hadn’t moved in to either place, he had basically moved out of his parent’s house.

Looking at Derek made him smile. He had really grown as an alpha and as a man. He did end up offering the bite to Erica, Isaac, and Boyd and they all accepted. Since then the pack has had weekly training seasons and bonding nights. It was nice to see him finally letting people in.

“Why did you call us here, Stilinski?” Jackson asked as if the three of them don’t hang out all the time anyway.

“It can’t be because I wanted to see your beautiful faces?” Stiles asked back.

Derek let out a small laugh… well a huff, but it was as close to a laugh as he got. Stiles and Jackson were still working on that.

“Just sit on the couch, I’ll be there in a little bit.” Their timing was perfect. He grabbed his homemade treat from the kitchen and came out and presented it to them.

They looked at it with confusion on their faces before realization donned. They had both read the research on rübezahl and they knew that his mother had done this for his father.

Jackson had a nervous look on his face as he said, “So, which one of us is the loaf for?” Stiles could see the same worry in Derek’s eyebrows, but the older man would never voice it.

“It’s for both of you.” Stiles said, “I figured if a relationship is going to be based on sharing, we should start off sharing. Why choose?”

The three of them shared small smiles before they cut into the sourdough, sharing the rübezahl’s gift between them. They knew this was the start of something beautiful as they all snuggled together on the couch.


End file.
